Jets are up to the same hijinks

August 27, 2013 - Shaunna Dunder Hershberger

This morning, I almost violated my own rules of the NFL team dress code for women. You see, a few years ago, I bought this Browns shirt on clearance - it was just too cute to pass up. (I am a girl who likes cute things, after all. And I also like to use the word "cute" a lot.) The shirt has two things I forbid in women's NFL fashion - glitter and hearts. Major cons. Pros - there is no pink and the entire shirt is in proper team colors. Con - orange hearts aren't much better than pink hearts. Pro - the message says "Go Browns! Go!", not "I heart Cleveland." Con - it's in glitter. Even I and my eagle-eyed marketing scam spotting prowess was sucked in by those darn NFL marketing gurus. That's why they're geniuses!

Today, we were allowed to wear our favorite team shirt or jersey to coincide with the release of our annual Pigskin Preview, and I found myself in a pickle. Wear the cute Browns shirt that violated several of my fashion rules or find something else? Rather than becoming a walking contradiction, I decided to just wear my WVU shirt. Yeah, I know, I know. WVU. They gave me stem cells, OK? I feel obligated to cheer them on, at least in football.

You know who else could deserve some cheering - as in cheering up? Jets coach Rex Ryan. Everyone's picking on him because he made a questionable call in his last preseason game to play Mark Sanchez in the 4th quarter. Sanchez got hurt, and now Ryan has to answer to the media. I think he needs a hug.

I'm not really sure why Ryan threw such a hissy fit at the press conference following the game. He had to know that onslaught was coming. I'm also not sure why he kept turning from side to side - it sort of reminded me of a little kid slapping his hands over his ears, closing his eyes and shaking his head from side to side while screaming, "I can't hear you! La la la la!" Atta boy, Rex.

I have absolutely no idea: 1.) How Rex Ryan is still the Jets coach this season; 2.) Why he seems to have some unhealthy obsession with Mark Sanchez (fact - Ryan's wife has a Sanchez tattoo!); 3.) Why the Jets didn't make any offseason moves to snag themselves a veteran QB to compete for the starting job, or at best replace Sanchez all together; and 4.) Why Sanchez's injury is even that big of a deal.

Really - wasn't the whole point of drafting Geno Smith to get him into the starting role eventually? So why is it such a big deal that Sanchez got hurt? He certainly wasn't a clear front runner for the QB job. The fact that he was even competing for the starting job on this team should give you an idea of just how untalented the Jets are at the QB position.

However, Geno Smith is not ready to take over as starting QB. He needs work and needs to be groomed by a veteran QB. I seriously doubt Mark Sanchez could fill that role. He is completely inept in the position. So of course Rex Ryan will hem and haw and have hissy fits when questioned about the starting QB job - he doesn't know what to do and there is no right answer. Should he choose execution by lethal injection or gas chamber? Maybe Ryan should just update his own resume. He's managed to make a huge mess out of this entire team.

I sense another year of madcap QB hijinks in store for the Jets. If we can only get a highlight as fantastic and overplayed as Sanchez's "Butt Fumble" from last season, then at least NFL fans can benefit from the Jets' shenanigans.